RF measurement quantities and

optimization

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Content
LTE RF measurement quantities in field measurements

RSRP
RSSI
RSRQ
SINR

RF optimization

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SINR vs. RSSI vs. RSRP and RSRQ

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Field measurement parameters

3GPP is defining following measurements:
RSRP (Reference Signal Received Power)
RSRQ (Reference Signal Received Quality)

Scanners and terminals are typically measuring following RF

quantities:

RSRP
RSRQ
RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator), Wideband channel power
P-SCH, S-SCH power
RS SINR, P-SCH/S-SCH SINR

Understanding of different measurement quantities is very

important for field performance analysis.

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RSRP, 3GPP definition

RSRP is the average received power of a single RS resource element.
UE measures the power of multiple resource elements used to transfer the

reference signal but then takes an average of them rather than summing them.
Reporting range -44-140 dBm

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RSRP mapping 3GPP TS 36.133 V8.9.0 (2010-03)

The reporting range of RSRP is defined from -140 dBm to
-44 dBm with 1 dB resolution.
The mapping of measured quantity is defined in the table
below.

Reported value

Measured quantity value

Unit

RSRP_00

RSRP -140

dBm

RSRP_01

-140 RSRP < -139

dBm

RSRP_02

-139 RSRP < -138

dBm

RSRP_95

-46 RSRP < -45

dBm

RSRP_96

-45 RSRP < -44

dBm

RSRP_97

-44 RSRP

dBm

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RSSI
RSSI not reported to eNodeB by UE
Can be computed from RSRQ and RSRP that are reported by UE

RSSI measures all power within the measurement

bandwidth

Measured over those OFDM symbols that contain RS

Measurement bandwidth RRC-signalled to UE

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RSSI and RSRP

RSSI = wideband power= noise + serving cell power + interference power
Without noise and interference, 100% DL PRB activity: RSSI=12*N*RSRP
RSRP is the received power of 1 RE (3GPP definition) average of power levels received
across all Reference Signal symbols within the considered measurement frequency
bandwidth
RSSI is measured over the entire bandwidth
N: number of RBs across the RSSI is measured and depends on the BW
Based on the above, under full load and high SNR:
RSRP (dBm)= RSSI (dBm) -10*log (12*N)

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RSRQ
RSRQ = N x RSRP / RSSI
N is the number of resource blocks over which the RSSI is

measured, typically equal to system bandwidth

RSSI is pure wide band power measurement, including intracell
power, interference and noise

RSRQ reporting range -3-19.5dB

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RSRQ reporting range

RSRQ = N x RSRP / RSSI
N is the number of resource blocks over which the RSSI is

measured, typically equal to system bandwidth

RSSI is pure wide band power measurement, including intracell
power, interference and noise

RSRQ reporting range -3-19.5dB

Reported value

Measured quantity value

Unit

RSRQ_00

RSRQ -19.5

dB

RSRQ_01

-19.5 RSRQ < -19

dB

RSRQ_02

-19 RSRQ < -18.5

RSRQ_32

-4 RSRQ < -3.5

dB

RSRQ_33

-3.5 RSRQ < -3

dB

RSRQ_34

-3 RSRQ

dB

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dB

SINR definition

SINR is the reference value used in the system simulation

SINR can be defined:
1. Wide band SINR
2. SINR for a specific subcarriers (or for a specific resource elements)

SINR = S/(I+N), all measured over the same bandwidth

Most drive test UEs and scanners support SINR or

SNR measurement

Example: LG supports RS SNR measurement

Example: Samsung BT-3710 measures CINR from RS (e-mail info from
Samsung)

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SNR vs. RSRP

RSRP to SNR mapping

RSRP is measured for a single subcarrier
noisepower_for_15KHz= -125.2dBm

Noise figure = 7 dB
Temperature = 290 K

Assumption: RSRP doesnt contain noise power

SNR

RSRP
Pn _ RE

Pn _ RE 15 KHz _ noise _ power

This curve gives upper limit to

SINR with certain RSRP. SINR
is always lower than SNR in
live network due to
interference.
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RSRQ to SINR mapping

RSRQ depends on own cell traffic load, but SINR doesnt depend on
own cell load.
Used Resource Elements per Resource Block (RE/RB) in serving cell is an

input parameter for RSRQ -> SINR mapping

Assumption: RSRP doesnt contain noise power

SINR

RSRP *12 N
Pi Pn _ 12 N

Pn _ xN Pn _ RE xN
x RE / RB _ used
N # RBs
RSSI Pi RSRP * xN Pn _ 12 N
RSRQ

N * RSRP
RSSI

SINR

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RSRP *12 N
12

N * RSRP
1
RSRP * xN
x
RSRQ
RSRQ

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RSRQ to SINR mapping

Difficult to estimate SINR in
this region from RSRQ, SINR
very sensitive to RSRQ and
cell load

Equation used:
SINR

12
1
x
RSRQ

x=RE/RB

2RE/RB equals to empty cell. Only

Reference Signal power is

considered from serving cell.
12RE/RB equals to fully loaded
serving cell. All resource elements
are carrying data.
In practice, mapping from RSRQ to
SINR seems difficult
Currently available measurement
UEs and scanners report SINR
directly

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RSRP vs. DL throughput

Example measurement
Drive test, 20MHz BW, ~2.6GHz
FTP download, no other interfering traffic in the network

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SINR vs. DL throughput

Example measurement
Drive test, 20MHz BW, ~2.6GHz

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RF optimization
Basic RF planning is important
Clear cell dominance areas
Avoid sites shooting over large areas with other cells
Antenna tilting has big impact on other cell interference, at least
in planning tool estimates
No LTE reference measurements available

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Example from 3HK trial reusing 3G sites

Improving performance by blocking excess cells
Ave SINR improved
from 15.2dB to 17.4dB

All cells

Overall SINR is improved due to

reduction of inter-cell interference

Locations with improved SINR are
visible on the map
Improvement in throughput is even
more significant (see next slide)

Blocked
cells
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Example from 3HK trial reusing 3G sites

Improving performance by blocking excess cells

Ave throughput improved

from 23.34Mbps to
26.78Mbps, i.e. 14.7%

All cells

Key message:
The number of LTE cells when converted
from all existing 3G sites seem to be more
than sufficient, and cell overlapping and
hence inter-cell interference seems to be
excessive in outdoor environment.
Careful planning and cell/antenna
selection process, and initial RF tuning is
important to the LTE field performance
Blocked
cells
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Quiz
1. If RSRP = -100 dBm, Calculate SINR.
2. For the SINR obtained in (1), what is the value of RSRQ for:
i. Empty cell
ii. Fully loaded cell

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